Protector for pianos



(No Model.)

' J. C. SCHLEICHER.

PRUTEGTOR FOR MANOS. No. 433,826. Patented Aug. 5.1890.

W/TNESSESv INI/ENTOR f J'on C'- Schleicher.

bwa/ML 7?/ @Y ATTORNEYS UNITED ASTATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN o. sonLEIOi-IEE, OE MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK.

PROTECTOR FOR PIANos.

SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersPatent No. 433,826, dated August 5, 1890.

Application filed April 3, 1890.

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, JOHN C. SCHLEICHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Vernon, in the county of lVestchester and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Protectors for Piano- 1Fortes, of which the following is a specificaion.

This invention relates to protectors for keeping the fronts and front panels of pianos from being scratched or marred by the feet of the performers. In placing the feet upon the pedals in playing upon a piano the performer sometimes touches the front or front panel in upright pianos and the lyre in grand and square pianos, and thereby scratches the panels or lyres, so as to mar their appearance and injure their finish and beauty. Such injuries are calculated to lessen their sale in the case of new pianos and to niar the appearance of such as are in use in households. In order to prevent such injuries, I apply to the pianos a protector adapted to shield their front panels and lyres, and which is by preference made removable,4 so that it can be taken off and any dust or dirt brushed off which may have been put thereon from contact with the feet of the performer. The protector is by preference covered on the surface exposed to view with plush or other handsome and Ornamental covering which will not be permanently injured or disgured from the contact of the feet therewith and which can be cleaned off by brushing.

My protector or shield is so constructed and applied that it is secured in place by means of the ordinary pedal-guard, and is removable at pleasure Without requiring any change in the pedal-guard or in the part of the instrument where it is applied.

The invention and the method of applying and using the same are fully described in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is an elevation of part of the front panel of an upright piano, the view showing the pedal-escutcheon and pedal-guard and an elevation of myprotector applied to the piano. Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line y y of Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. et is a front elevation of the protector detached.

semi no. 346.461. (No moda.)

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the pedal-escutcheon and pedal-guard detached.

The letter A designates a portion of the front panel or front of an upright piano, in the base B of which are made openings C D to receive the usual pedals for operating the dampers of the instrument. The pedals themselves are omitted from the View.

Around the tops and sides of the Openings C D is placed the pedal-escutcheon E, the lower part of which is provided also with openings coinciding with said openings C D, the upper part of the escutcheon being provided with a pedal-guard F, which Overhangs the face of the escutcheon and whose ends G G extend horizontally beyond the ends of the escutcheon. The escutcheon is fastened by screws H to the narrow base B of the panel, the escutcheon being wider than the base, so

marginal border J of panel A.

The protector consists of a frame K, preferably of wood because of its lightness, of any suitable shape and size, and covered with cloth or other material which will give it an ornamental character. In this example it is covered on the front surface with plush L, which is also made to overlap its edges. The lower edge of the protector is made with an opening M, of such form and size as enables it to receive the escutcheon. The back of the protector K is provided with a strengtheningbar N, extending from end to end ofthe protector near the line of the upper edge of the opening in such a position that said bar will restI on and be supported by the border J of the panel.

The letter O designates another strengthening-bar on the protector, whose ends are likewise upholstered.

In using my improvement the protector is pushed downward, so that its opening M will fit around the escutcheon, the lower part of the protector resting upon the outer surface of the base B, the protector at the edges of the opening M comingbeneath the projecting ends G G of the pedal-guard, the bar N at the same time resting on the border-piece J so that the protector is held in place by pressure on three lines-namely, pressure between the base B and the lower edges of the protector, pressthat it overlaps the latter (shown in Fig. 2)` and extends upward a little distance over the ure between the bar N ot' the protector and the border-piece J, and pressure on the intermediate line between the ends of the pedalguards where they rest upon the protector at the edges of the opening M. This construction ot the protector enables me to apply and aiiiX it to the front panel of an upright piano Without the necessity of reconstructing the pedal-escutcheon or pedal-guard or any other partof the piano, the lower edge of the protector being merely shoved down until it engages the pedal-guard, so that the ends G G of the guard rest upon the surface of the protector along the edges of the opening M.

It is obvious that the lyre of grand and square pianos can be protected from injury in like manner, and that my invention is applicable likewise to cabinetorgans, melodcons, and similar instruments.

Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The protector L,provided with an opening M at its lower edge, and the Strengthening offsetting-bar N, extending from the rear side of the protector-frame directly above the said opening to rest upon the panel-border J, in combination with the pedal-guard F, whose projecting ends G G engage the edges of the opening M, substantially as shown and described.

2. A panel-protector for pianos, consisting of a frame having an attached ornamental facing and an opening to receive the pedalescutcheon, and provided on its rear surface with a horizontal offsetting-bar to strengthen the protector-frame and rest against the projecting border ot the piano-panel for sustaining the frame perpendieularly, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence ot' two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN C. SCHLEICHER.

Witnesses:

J. VAN SANTvooRD, ALFRED M. KRUG. 

